OBSERVATIONS
ON THE
SLAVE TRADE, &c.
SECT. I.
On the Mode of procuring Slaves.
CHAP. I.
WAR.
AMONG the various sources, from whence the Europeans are supplied with slaves on the coast of Africa, I shall first reckon that of War.
The Wars which the inhabitants of the interior parts of the country, beyond Senegal, Gambia, and Sierra Leona, carry on with each other, are chiefly of a predatory nature, and owe their origin to the yearly number of slaves, which the Mandingoes, or the inland traders suppose will be wanted by the vessels that will arrive on their coast. Indeed these predatory incursions depend so much on the demand for slaves, that if in any one year there be a greater concourse of European ships than usual, it is observed that a much greater number of captives from the interior parts of the country is brought to market the next.
The unhappy captives, many of whom are people of distinction, such as princes, priests, and persons high in office, are conducted by the Mandingoes in droves of twenty, thirty, or forty, chained together, either to Fort St. Joseph on the river Senegal, or Niger, in the country of Gallam, or to places near the river Gambia. But when the trade with the French on the river Senegal happens to be stopped, (which was the case in 1787) they bring all their captives to the mouth of the Gambia, Sierra Leona, and other places down the coast. These Mandingoes perform the whole journey, except at certain seasons of the year, when they are met by the traders belonging to the coast, who receive the slaves from them, and give them the usual articles of merchandize in exchange.
What I have hitherto said, was taken from the best accounts I could collect both from the black and white traders, during my residence upon the coast. It is proper, however, that I should state something on this head, that has come within my own knowledge.
The Moors, who inhabit the countries on the north of the River Senegal, are particularly infamous for these predatory Wars. They cross the river, and attacking the negroes, bring many of them off. There are not a few who subsist by means of these unprovoked excursions. The French, to encourage them in it, make annual presents to the Moorish kings. These are given them under certain conditions, first, that their subjects shall not carry any of their gum to the English at Portendic; and, secondly, that they shall be ready, on all occasions, to furnish slaves. To enable them to fulfil this last article, they never fail to supply them with ammunition, guns, and other instruments of War.
To confirm what I have now said, I shall put down the following example:
The king of Almammy had, in the year 1787, very much to his honour, enacted a law, that no slave whatever should be marched through his territories. At this time several French vessels lay at anchor in the Senegal, waiting for slaves. The route of the black traders in consequence of this edict of the king, was stopped, and the slaves carried to other parts. The French, unable on this account to complete their cargoes, remonstrated with the king. He was, however, very unpropitious to their representations, for he returned the presents which had been sent him by the Senegal company, of which I myself was a witness; declaring, at the same time, that all the riches of that company should not divert him from his design. In this situation of affairs, the French were obliged to have recourse to their old friends, the Moors. These, who had before shewn themselves so ready on such occasions, were no less ready and active on this. They set off in parties to surprise the unoffending negroes, and to carry among them all the calamities of War. Many unfortunate prisoners were sent, and for some time continued to be sent in. I was once curious enough to wish to see some of those that had just arrived. I applied to the Director of the company, who conducted me to the slave-prisons. I there saw the unfortunate captives, chained two and two together, by the foot. The mangled bodies of several of them, whose wounds were still bleeding, exhibited a most shocking spectacle; and their situation may be much easier conceived than described. The Director of the company, however, used his best endeavors to console them.
This is a specifick instance, clearly shewing that one War at least was undertaken for the sole purpose of procuring slaves. I cannot, however, help observing, that if no such instance as this had come within my knowledge during my stay in those parts, I should yet have thought myself justifiable in supposing, that the Wars among the negroes originated in the slave trade. For in all the observations I have been able to make (and I went to the coast of Africa, not with any commercial views, but for the sole purpose of inquiry and observation) I have ever considered the negroes as a quiet, inoffensive people, happy in themselves, and in one another, enjoying the comforts of life, without the intervention of toil and trouble. If, therefore, I had found Wars among a people of such dispositions, and so situated as to have no motive for them, I should certainly have set them down, as having been excited for some diabolical purpose, and for none so likely as for the prosecution of the slave trade.